New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik to judicial custody till May 24 in connection with a case related to the funding of terror and separatist groups in the state. Presenting him before Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Syal, Tihar Jail authorities pleaded that Malik should be presented before the court through video conference due to security reasons. The court has asked Malik's counsel to file a reply on the Tihar Jail authorities' application.
The NIA arrested Malik on April 10, in a terror funding case which the agency registered in May 2017 after violence erupted in the Kashmir Valley. So far, the agency has arrested several separatist leaders, including Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Nayeem Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah.
Altaf Ahmad Shah is the son-in-law of Syed Ali Geelani, who advocates Jammu and Kashmir's merger with Pakistan. Shahid-ul-Islam is Dar's aide and Khandey is the spokesperson for the Geelani-led Hurriyat. Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali was arrested in August 2017.
The anti-terror agency on January 18, 2018, filed a charge-sheet against 12 persons, including Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin.
